Amph What was the last album you purchased/heard?

LeftRightLeftRightLeft - Coldplay: Alright, so it was a free cd at the Coldplay concert I went to. I still own it, darn it!

In Between Dreams - Jack Johnson.

Sleeping Through the Static - Jack Johnson.


This week I have three albums coming in the mail:

All Sides - O.A.R.

Who We Are - Lifehouse.

Hold Back My Heart - Michael Johns.


I also pre-ordered Rob Thomas' sophomore album, Cradlesong.

I'm looking forward to the end of July because Daughtry's sophomore album, Leave This Town comes out. I also read yesterday that Weird Al Yankovic is releasing an EP at the end of summer/beginning of fall, Internet Leaks. I'm quite excited.

 

Destroyer/Incipit Satan - Gorgoroth (1998/2000)

Basically I intended to get myself one album, and saw this little number on iTunes for standard cost, so I couldn't really say no. Destroyer is something of your traditional "trve kvlt black metal" album, with lots of loud noise and screaming lyrics about how the principle monotheistic faiths are bad. Incipit Satan is a bit more progressively oriented, with more melodic tracks and unconventional instrumentation. Plus the last track has a neat little Sgt. Pepper's-esque backwards phrase at the end. Nonetheless, probably not one I'd recommend unless you're a fan of both the genre and the band, but a good bargain if you are.

The Slip - Nine Inch Nails (2008)

Okay, so this was legally available for free on the official website, but I did download it and, as such, it's my first NIN album. I must say I'm impressed, it's got a kind of distorted sound that really works for me. Since it's free, I'd say give it a try if you've never heard anything by them. If you're a fan, well... you probably had this last year.

 

I can see that I should look for some bargains...

 

Since last time:

Garbage (1995) ? Garbage

I was unsurpassingly surprised to find myself loving this album to death. The songs are real songs, not just the angst-fest wreckage of most of this kind of stuff. The arrangements and production are great, off kilter, but brilliant. The melodies (actual melodies!) are evocative and the lyrics are mostly clever and only occasionally thuddingly mordant. Ton of great songs on this one. I really dug this album. I love it when I surprise myself.

Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix (1998) ? Jimi Hendrix

I would in no way recommend passing over the original Hendrix albums, but just because I think Axis and Are You Experienced are great albums doesn?t mean that I can?t appreciate hearing songs from those albums scattered around with other songs from other albums. The best greatest hits albums succeed on their own terms, as a great mix tape and not a replacement for the artist?s original albums. This is one of those (Lennon Legend is another). The sound is great, the song selection proves a real fan put this together, not just a loser with an eye on the charts and it?s great to have his flaming Star Spangled Banner from Woodstock on an album of other Hendrix stuff. Also, kudos for going all the way to First Rays of the New Rising Sun to slip on a couple from that album, left unfinished at the time of his death. A great introduction to the man; a great party mix, even if you know the man intimately already.

Raw Power (1973) ? The Stooges

I heard the remixed version of this album; Iggy does over Bowie?s mix to create a sound more in line with Search and Destroy. The album is a thundering blast of testosterone; if you ever have to walk into a place and shoot and a bunch of bad guys, this would be the music to play in the car on the way over. That?s a compliment.

Going Public (1994) ? The Newsboys

Still the best album the Newsboys ever put out. The styles go from thrash to ballad and back again. Of the ten songs on the album, ten of them are instant classics. This is their most wide ranging collection; plenty of the kicky pop fun they?re known for, but this album closes with Elle G., a moody rumination from the perspective of a father who?s daughter has just committed suicide, and it?s as close to somber as the group has ever gotten. Still a classic.

Very Necessary (1993) ? Salt-N-Pepa

Mostly fun album. Some of the songs here approach, or even attain, pure genius. Shoop and Whatta Man are the icons from this album, but Step is a better song than those two put together, great as those two are. Sometimes forgettable, but always energetic. One sad note: the album ends with one of those hokey skits that hip hop has made necessary. This one?s about a girl finding out a guy gave her AIDs; talk about harshing the buzz. Otherwise, this is a solid party album, but the real keepers you could fit on a nice mixtape and still have room for plenty of other stuff.

 

I'd like to hear the original version of Raw Power.

 

Yeah, so would I. I doubt I'd like it as much as I liked the remixed album, but it would have been nice if, on that reissue with Pop's remixes, they'd included the original mixes on a bonus disc for comparison.

 

I've never even *heard* of the The Stooges...

 

Here's some more:

CBGB Forever (2007) - Various Artists

Compilation album, released to attempt to raise funds to help keep CBGB, certainly the most important venue for New York punk during the seventies, to remain open. The venue closed, but don't hold it against this riotiously entertaining album. The Ramones, Talking Heads Life During Wartime, Blondie, Foo Fighters, Velvet Revolver, Patti Smith and U2 covering Beat on the Brat(!!) all on one CD. Sign me up! Great party mix; some things are better than others and some, like that absurd U2 cover, will test your capacity to appreciate the ridiculous, but lots of fun regardless.

The Island Years (1994) - John Cale

After helping found Velvet Underground, Cale struck out on his own. He recorded, of course, Paris 1919 and also three astonishing albums for the Island label. Those three albums, including a couple of singles, are included here, squeezed onto two CDs. If you've never discovered Cale's solo output, this is a great place to start - primal scream noise rock, gorgeous string drenched ballads, winking ironic drone rock (he covers Pablo Picasso, which he produced for the Modern Lovers) and then there's the really weird stuff. And don't miss that absolutely hellish cover of Heartbreak Hotel, Brian Eno providing a shrieking choir of the damned, wailing synthesizers and punishing sirens: it's Cale's solo work in three minutes.

There I Go Again (2002) - David Meece

Meece was mostly famous during the early eighties as a poster boy for bland gospel pop-rock. He mainly does the same here; there is one admittedly great moment, a live cover of his most famous song, We Are the Reason, twenty years after his original recording; his voice is jagged and ragged, but the emotion is still there.

Monster (1994) - R.E.M.

I suppose any follow up to Automatic for the People would have gotten panned and, boy, did this. But it's better than you might recall; harder, edgier sound and not a coherent album by any means. But some great songs; Crush With Eyeliner is great any way you cut it.

Maybe This Christmas (2002) - Various Artists

Great alt Christmas mix tape. At times very odd, at times very brilliant. Coldplay's version of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas about slays it all; the inclusion of Jimmy Eat World is not quite as wise a decision, if I may be tactful. But if you like melancholy, angsty pop-rock (and who doesn't!?) this is a fun way to get a new look at some Christmas standards and discover a few new ones along the way. Followed by Maybe This Christmas Too and Maybe This Christmas Tree; the third one is maybe the best.

 

Monster's sandwiched between two really good albums. What's The Frequency, Kenneth? is the only song I really like on it.

My neat-o story: the last album I bought was The Posies' Amazing Disgrace. About 20 minutes after buying it, I was at a show and noticed that one of the Posies was standing at the bar. So I tapped him on the shoulder and gushed, "I just bought one of your albums!"

 

Everyone all at once - The Rest

Found this yesterday. I have never heard them before and it turned out to be quite pleasant popmusic. The singing is not the best, but the harmonies and the melodies are delightful.

Sounds of the Universe - Depeche Mode

I got the LP edition with a bonus CD of the album. I've had the regular CD ever since April and I think this is one of DM's best effort during the last ten years.

 

Sister Hazel - Release

Megadeth - Endgame

Both are cool, but I have a feeling that Endgame is going to be the last Megadeth album.

 

Double Take (2000) - Petra

I still think Petra put out some great albums in the eighties (I still own More Power to Ya and This Means War and wish I still owned Beyond Belief), so I wasn't sure about this acoustic reworking of their songs. But it mostly works; they turn Dance into a country rave up and slow down This Means War into a string drenched and brooding lament that totally kills the original version.

Achtung Baby (1991) - U2

It strikes me as more or less unimportant at this point, but I'll go ahead and say it again: astonishing, brilliant, staggering. Stands next to The Joshua Tree and that is no mean feat. It's impossible to pick a favorite song; One is astounding, but it doesn't tower over the rest of the album, so strong are these songs.

The Wall (1979) - Pink Floyd

Again, more or less unimportant, but I'll go ahead and say it all again: overcooked, too long, not a patch on Dark Side, too purposely distancing. But, yeah, some great songs; all the classics still play great and this time through I noticed that Run Like Hell is actually a pretty great song. But this is the definitive double album that would have made a great single.

Songs for Christmas (2006) - Sufjan Stevens

A five CD set of the EPs Stevens recorded for friends and family; on the five CDs, it's only a bit over two hours of music. But it's loads of fun; it alternates between deeply reverent and emotional readings of traditional songs and kicky pop readings of Stevens' own bizarre originals. Some of his originals (Sister Winter, Come On Lets Boogey to the Elf Dance) are instant standards; and he drags out some you don't here that often - it's about time someone besides a choir did Once in Royal David's City. Definitely worth tracking down.

Good Will Hunting (1997) - Various Artists

One of the best soundtracks ever released; the spirit of Elliot Smith is all over this thing and the songs here are among his finest work. The other songs are also well chosen; Fisherman's Blues and How Can You Mend a Broken Heart hardly seem to go together, but actually they do.

 

Random sampling of the highlights:

For Lies I Sire - My Dying Bride

Quality English doom metal, with a lot of haunting atmosphere and some absolutely gorgeous violin parts. A few songs have a more death metal feel, but on the whole the lyrics are clean, melancholy, and thought provoking. It's also an absolute steal on iTunes now at about US$4.

Focus - Cynic

Cynic only released one studio album... and what an album it is. A curious death/prog metal fusion that also incorporates some jazz influences, it's actually fairly difficult for me to describe. As a death metal band, there are growls, but they're mixed with clean vocals in a highly professional manner, and the end result is stunning.

The Bleeding - Cannibal Corpse

If you've heard of Cannibal Corpse, you either love them or you hate them. If you haven't heard of Cannibal Corpse, they're pioneers of a sort of "non-melodic" death metal, favoring a more black metal approach to musicianship, but with death growls. The lyrics would also get me a ban if I even attempted to describe them here. This particularly entry in their catalog is notable as their final release with their then vocalist.

World Painted Blood - Slayer

It's... um... Slayer. If you like Slayer, you'll like this. It's that easy. If you haven't heard of Slayer, you should probably check out Reign In Blood or Seasons in the Abyss first.

Above - Samael

This entire album, by black and industrial metal standbys Samael, can actually be decided based on a single YouTube link to one of the highlight tracks: Black Hole. If you like this track, you will like the album. If you do not like this track, you will not like the album.

Beatles For Sale - The Beatles

Despite my love of all things metal, I was, and still am, a classic rock snob. So when the CD remasters of the Beatles catalog hit stores, I knew I would eventually buy this album, if only to complete my collection. I wasn't disappointed, this is arguably the best Beatles album pre-Rubber Soul. If you're a fan of the early Beatles, this is a must-own.

 

Julian Plenti - Julian Plenti Is Skyscraper

Interpol frontman Paul Bank's solo project. Very good stuff, though nothing like Interpol but I suppose that was the point. Rockin/electronic/folky/not sure how else to describe it. It goes all over the place.

 

Only Yazoo: best of - Yazoo
This is one of my all time favourite synthpop bands, but this collection does not do them justice. There's too much emphasis on the first album and they have missed out some of the good tracks from their second LP. Plus the additional remixes do not serve any purpose since they just basically update the original versions. I would have preferred a proper remastering of their albums. Still, songs like "Only you" are classic to me.

Automatic for the people - REM
I had to buy another copy since I've worn my old CD out (the cover is in an atrocious state). This is one of my all time favourite albums ever. Just listening to songs like "Man on the Moon" makes me very happy.

Waves of mutilation: The best of Pixies - The Pixies
I've heard a lot about this band through the years. I have to say I find them very uneven because some songs does not appeal to me at all. At times it's just too much noise and not enough melody. But tracks like "Here comes the man" are brilliant.

 

Nebraska (1982) - Bruce Springsteen

Recorded and released the year of my birth; you'd be forgiven for thinking it was recorded and released the year of Springsteen's birth. Just Bruce and his acoustic guitar and an occasional harmonica wrapped around his bleakest, most grief stricken and tragic set of songs yet. It's certainly one of his most perfect achievements and an astounding album by any reasonable standard. Another five star effort (what is this, number six? seven?) from Springsteen.

Casablanca: Classic Film Scores for Humphrey Bogart (1991) - Various Artists

One of the string of early film score compilation albums put out by RCA Victor. Most of them focus on the composer (Spellbound is the best of Miklos Rosza; The Sea Hawk, a compilation of Korngold), but this one focuses instead on a star. This features suites, ranging from three or four minutes to eight or nine, from various Bogart films, with composers ranging from Victor Young to Max Steiner and tons of others. It was a fun listen.

Paul's Boutique (1989) - The Beastie Boys

The B-Boys' best album and the high point of sampling as an art form. Still just incredibly, blisteringly fun. The twelve minute album closer is a rave up non parallel. This album is probably just behind The Chronic as, in my opinion, the best hip hop album around.

Light Years (1995) - Andrae Crouch

Compilation album of Crouch, a landmark figure of black gospel music in the seventies and eighties. His songs have become standards and any black gospel group around today is basing off of what he did in melding his exuberant piano, a funk rhythm section and an anointed choir to create something entirely brilliant. A lot of his most famous albums are hard to find; I've been trying to get a copy of his Live at Carnegie Hall through InterLibrary Loan for a couple of years now. Until a rerelease (please, God!) of Crouch's early stuff, this is a good place to start; My Tribute, Soon and Very Soon, You Don't Have to Jump Any Pews, Through It All, Jesus is the Answer . . . these songs changed gospel music forever.

Weezer (1994) - Weezer

Well, I'm darned. It holds up. I think I enjoyed the album this time through more than I have on any previous listen. Say It Ain't So, My Name is Jonas, Buddy Holly and The Sweater Song are the highlights, but the whole album is riding that same wave of fuzzed out guitar and witty, oblique lyrics. And man, that guitar solo in Buddy Holly is one for the archives forever.

 

Well, I don't like double posting, but I do it when I have too.

Totally Country, Vol. 3 (2003) - Various Artists

Mostly bland compilation of country hits. It has Randy Travis' excellent Three Wooden Crosses and then eighteen other songs you'll forget as soon as the CD stops.

Love Their Country (2006) - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes

Punk band that does mostly hilarious and yet somehow sincere covers of great songs. This is, of course, their country album. And if you've never heard I'm so Lonesome I Could Cry done up like thrash punk you haven't lived. They slay Garth Brooks' Much Too Young and do hands down the best version of Ghost Riders in the Sky ever recorded. It's their Desperado that you'll remember though; a pitch perfect spoof.

The Living Room Sessions - Christmas (2001) - Chris Rice

One of my favorite singer/songwriters releases his Christmas album, just a stripped down piano with no vocals and no other instruments. Against all odds, it succeeds; Rice's voice can plumb incredible emotional depths and now we know his piano can too. Gorgeous arrangements.

Saved (1980) - Bob Dylan

The second of Dylan's "christian" albums. Slow Train Coming, his first, is unjustly forgotten and can easily stand on the shelf along his greatest works. Well, not so this one, which is nearly unlistenable. It does have three great songs, the flat out rave up title track, the luminous love song Covenant Woman and the pounding, hard rock Solid Rock. But the rest of the album is absolutely terrible; Dylan's lyrics were great on Slow Train and his anger was palpable. Here his anger is gone and his lyrics are sort of purposely banal. This, I guess, is what everyone remembers when they remember his Christian period and talk about how bad it was. But get Slow Train Coming; it's brilliant.

Cafe Bleu (1984) - The Style Council

Weller neatly divides this album into two halves. The first half is jazz influenced with a luminously gorgeous guitar instrumental in Blue Cafe, a chanteuse guest vocal on The Paris Match and a couple of hopped up jazz instrumentals to name a few; the second half is all hip hop and dance influenced, with a horrendous guest rap on The Gospel and some of the most annoying club rock you'll ever hear on Strength of Your Nature. The first half gets five stars, the second maybe two. Weird. Ever Changing Moods is one of the handful of really great lyrics written post 1980 though.

 

This album is actually the very reason a friend of mine pretends that Dylan died sometime before 1980, he dislikes it that much. Though I've got a soft spot for Love & Theft, which was even later.

Anyway:

Them Crooked Vultures (2009) - Them Crooked Vultures

If Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age fame, Dave Grohl of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, and John Paul Jones, the bassist from Led Zeppelin, got together to make an album... it would quite literally be this album. While some supergroups fall short of expectations, nearly every track on this album is a winner. Modern hard rock at its absolute finest, and I can't recommend it enough.

Of Winter Born (2009) - Ignominious Incineration

Do not, under any circumstances, buy this album. I thank my lucky stars I was reviewing it for the college radio station and didn't have to spend any money, because it may just be the most boring, uninteresting, and technically lacking death metal album, or indeed, album, I have ever had the displeasure of sitting through. There's perhaps one good listen, and even that is somewhat relative. Avoid like the plague, no matter how cool you think the album artwork is.

 

Yeah, Time Out of Mind from 97 is actually my favorite Dylan album. But Love and Theft is a five star effort too. Modern Times was also pretty good. And I'd hate to not have Things Have Changed, his Oscar winning song. On the whole, most Dylan albums are great; he's one of my favorite artists. Saved may be my least favorite of his.

 

So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt (1980) - Keith Green

The third entry in Green's essential trilogy of pop gospel albums. The other two, For Him Who Has Ears to Hear and No Compromise, are also essential listens. This album, with newly born again Bob Dylan guesting on harmonica, is brilliant. Green was at his best writing incredibly sarcastic biting songs taking Christians to task for not really being at all like Christ and there's plenty of that here, including the hilarious title track, the brutal If You Love the Lord, and the incredibly catchy Unless the Lord Builds the House, with a rocking guitar solo. Green was an astonishing pianist and a great songwriter. In less than three years he would be dead in a tragic plane crash, but while he was hot, he was hot; gospel music needs another prophet like this. Heck, music period needs another prophet like this.

Until We Have Wings (1980) - Randy Stonehill

Stonehill was a mostly forgettable pop gospel artist during the seventies (the flip side to Keith Green's great work), but he came out with a career best country album in 1990 with Return to Paradise, an album of melancholy meditations on grief and sorrow. This album is half studio recordings and half live; not sure which is worse, the banal studio recordings or his manically idiotic live recordings. Odd; I still can't figure how this guy had Return to Paradise, an essential album if ever there was one, in him.

The Papercut Chronicles (2006) - Gym Class Heroes

Yes, I'm one of those people you hate, one of the ones who actually really loved Cupid's Chokehold and kept it spinning on the radio way past its best by date. Regardless of that, the rest of this album is fine, if not great. There are some incredibly witty songs, namely the side splitting Pillmatic, as fine an ode to being hooked on prescription meds as has ever been written.

Wild Mountain Nation (2007) - Blitzen Trapper

Unpretentious little electrified punk country from up Portland way. Some great stinging guitar work, some great catchy melodies. Furr was considered a great album by Rolling Stone, but I haven't heard that one yet. But this one was fun, short and energetic.

Power Jams (1999) - Various Artists

A Christian answer to Jock Jams from ESPN, if you can frigging believe that. It features remixes of a lot of Christian songs, remixed until the bass thumps your windows out and if you're working out to this one, you're going to be on the floor, gasping for breath. Not a great artistic achievement, but then neither was Jock Jams. This is a great party album, Christian or not. Highlights are DC Talks fantastic cover of Jesus is Just Alright, Crystal Lewis' soaring electroclub version of God's Been Good to Me and The Smalltown Poet's rockin' out Quasar.

 

Nightmare Revisited

 

At Worst: The Best of Boy George & the Culture Club (1993) - Boy George & the Culture Club

One must admit a facility for deeply emotive vocals over a sort of early dance pop sound, but one must also admit that ninety percent of these songs sound exactly alike. This album is way too long and some of these songs aren't very good; that said, Karma Chameleon remains one of the most perfect pop songs ever created and George's cover of The Crying Game is absolutely inspired.

Atlantic Record: 50 Years (1998) - Various Artists

Double album commemorating Atlantic Record's 50th anniversary. The first disc owns complete with the Stones, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Zep, the Coasters and many other great artists. The second disc starts strong with Layla, moves immediately to Yes and ends up with Hootie and the Blowfish and Jewel with the rare stop off at Bette Midler. Atlantic Records, in other words, used to be awesome, but not so much anymore. Still, fun listen.

X (2008) - Kylie Minogue

I suppose you know if you like Minogue or not; I rather do, but make no great artsy claims for her. But this is fun dance pop if you like that thing, though the album does rather begin to sound all of a piece by the last few songs. However, 2 Hearts is fantastic.

Super Taranta (2007) - Gogol Bordello

Multi-ethnic, multi-instrumental band roaring out of Europe with a sound like all the punk bands in the world colliding with all the folk singers of Russia. A sound like no other, hard, fast, out of control, Eastern European tinge, with a bellowing lead shouter and one of the most astonishingly intense bands of all time. Did I like this? It nearly killed me; the CD is over an hour and by the end you'll be dripping with sweat from dancing like a maniac. Hilarious, good natured, smart, stunning. An essential listen; get this. Now.

The Downward Spiral (1994) - Nine Inch Nails

Another sweat inducing primal roar of an album, but the sweat is cold and the roar is the kind you hear in your nightmares. Unbelievably dark, unbelievably intense. Industrial drone collides with snippets of melodic piano, screaming rock guitar and Reznor's soul shredded voice. Scattered with moments of such incredible experimentation and collision that you can't help but laugh despite the unremitting darkness of the album. Reznor has stated he never listens to his own version of Hurt, the album closer, anymore, preferring Cash's version. He's right, but his version ain't no slouch. Ferocious, demented, essential rant of an album. Hear it. Loud.

 

Other people need to post in here.

Modern Times (2006) - Bob Dylan

Not as brilliant as either Time Out of Mind (his best) or Love & Theft (one of his best). I'd rank it just under Blood on the Tracks and Slow Train Coming. It's maybe as good as Bringing It All Back Home and certainly better than Under the Red Sky. Some luminous work; Spirit on the Water is maybe Dylan's most beautiful song since Not Dark Yet and Ain't Talkin' is a fabulously grim and foreboding album closer. Definitely an essential listen, if not as good as the other work he's done since his creative rebirth with Time Out of Mind.

Spiderman of the Rings (2007) - Dan Deacon

Great electronica album from a sound collage artist who has been known to release albums entirely made up of sixty minute tracks of sine waves drifting. This is poppier and peppier. He turns Woody Woodpecker's laugh into a hopped up sugar high, if that's worth anything. The Crystal Cat is a fantastic electronic rock song and Wham City is a twelve minute singsong epic. Loads of fun.

The Stage Names (2007) - Okkervil River

Sort of fairly typical indie rock. Plus Ones and A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene are both absolutely great songs, but the rest of the album is mostly forgettable.

Version (2007) - Mark Ronson

Great album featuring Ronson, with various guest artists, giving loads of semi-sacred Britpop songs his neo-soul treatment. Lily Allen slays Oh My God, Ronson gives a great disco feel to Daniel Merriweather's cover of The Smiths' Stop Me, The Daptone Horns absolutely rave out on Coldplay's God Put a Smile on Your Face and Amy Winehouse just does a fantastic thing with Valerie. Great listen.

Datarock Datarock (2005) - Datarock

Trippy electronic rock out of Norway. Very weird, very catchy, very fun and at times, as in Computer Camp Love, absolutely hilarious. You'll either love this or hate it, I think, with it's robo beats, incredibly odd vocals and self consciously hilarious cheesy head bopping vibe. I loved it.

 

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1967) - Ennio Morricone

A score that hopefully needs no defense anymore, though it certainly did at the time. Still a great listen. Story of a Soldier is one of Morricone's most beautiful compositions and The Trio is just astounding. Never gets old. The Mission is my favorite and Once Upon a Time in the West is maybe my second favorite, but this would be third.

Kid A (2000) - Radiohead

As the decade comes to a close, it's worth going back, I think, to listen to what remains probably the most influential and significant album of the decade, the moment when the biggest rock group in the world thought who really wanted to be a rock group anyway and decided to bring electronic noodling, broken crooning, lyrical opacity and post-modern angst to the mainstream. The folk revivalists borrowed Yorke's voice, the rockstars borrowed his lyrics and hip hop borrowed his textures; electronic artists, of course, borrowed everything. Still not the best album of the decade, but damn close and it still holds up.

18 Singles (2006) - U2

Pretty good collection of great U2 songs. But nothing from Boy? Come on.

Message from Beat Street (1994) - Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five

What can you say about this stuff? Hip hop at its early best. Energy, anger and angst. The Message was their big hit; but New York New York is even better.

Ultimate Gospel (2003) - Elvis Presley

Collection of all of Elvis' gospel recordings, by which, I mean, of course, his dullest work on wax. Run On is a great song, but of the twenty-five plus on the album, it's the only great one.

 

Personally, I'm partial to the italian release (Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo), since it's got the better version of The Trio (Il triello) on that album.

Warpath (1997) - Six Feet Under

What happens when you take the former lead vocalist from Cannibal Corpse, give him nearly full creative control, and then unleash it on the masses? You basically get Six Feet Under, Chris Barnes' solo project that attempts to reintegrate "Heavy" back into Death Metal. Barnes has a unique vocal style that manages to make each growl sound at once inhuman and yet fully intelligible. Couple that with the bleak, often violent lyrical content, and this isn't an album for the faint of heart. While your average death metalhead might be put off by the dramatically slower tempo, those willing to move beyond simple speed will find a lot to appreciate here.

Maximum Violence (1999) - Six Feet Under

Warpath not fast enough for you? Then try this album, where a new guitarist brings a lot of high speed shredding to the Six Feet Under formula, resulting in an album comparable to Cannibal Corpse's The Bleeding without as many awesome bass lines. In my opinion, the weaker of the classic SFU albums.

Formulas Fatal to the Flesh (1999) - Morbid Angel

Meat and potatoes Morbid Angel formula with some interesting instrumental interludes thrown in. Not their best effort, but certainly up to snuff. Granted, the more diehard MA fans are probably already acquainted with this album.

Gardens of Grief / In The Embrace of Evil (1991/1996) - At the Gates / Grotesque

Don't let the release dates on this split album fool you - the work from Grotesque is substantially earlier than the At the Gates recordings (The latter band being composed of members of the former), and it shows in song development and recording quality. This album is most notable as the stylistic origins of what would go on to be one of, if not the, most important melodeath bands of all time, as it contains the bulk of Grotesque's work and At the Gates' debut EP. The first portion is a quality listen, albeit probably closer to the sound of the late 80s American scene than one would guess. Grotesque has an okay sound that borders on black metal at times, but is certainly better viewed as a bonus rather than a legitimate second act. The lyrics of Gardens of Grief are likewise superior (Currently, my signature contains a quote from the third track, All Life Ends), so those interested should probably just pick up that EP on iTunes and skip on the double album.